Someday This Will All be a Thing of the Past
by Grint92
Summary: Quick first chapter - I haven't written fic in forever so I'm seeing how this goes. I wanted more of Kyohei and crew's high school time, I thought that was really interesting. Don't expect to see too much Shinra though LOL - each chapter's POV changes
1. Chapter 1

"Heiwajiba!"

"Heiwajiba!"

"Come on out here and show us what you've got, Heiwajiba!"

A motley crew of scared boys posing as strong men overtook the main courtyard in front of Raira Academy. All but one were thinking the same thing, that this was crazy – suicide even, but if they ran, the shame would be far worse. The lone confident leader had no idea what he was getting him and his buddies into, his stupidity had lead to his position as leader; no one else was thick enough to take it on.

"I told you guys," he said grinning, his uwabaki sunk into the mud. He looked more like a smug toad than the shogun he called himself, "I told you it was a lot of talk, this guy's strong, but he's not gonna try and take on all us at once!"

His posse nodded sheepishly, some unclenched, others continued to back away.

"Alright, one more time! If Heiwajiba doesn't come out in 10 seconds, we're claiming this block! Come on out and fight! You had no problem with 15 guys, so how 'bout 25?"

Kyohei Kadota leaned against the only tree on the Raira campus, he always made sure to get outside first so that no one could take it from him, not that they'd try. He loosened his tie and took out his book, un-creasing the dog ear he picked up where he left off when all of a sudden some punk at the gate started yelling. He stopped and Kyohei resumed, however, every time he tried reading, the assholes with no uniforms at the gate would start hollering again. It was clear what they were after, right from the start, why else did non Raira kids come by these days? These idiots were no different from every other idiot that came by looking for trouble. Without looking up, Kadota had guessed they were all carrying crude weapons,

"It's Heiwajima" Kyohei loudly, but calmly, said to none of them in particular.

"What the-who the hell asked you?" The little, overly loud one at the front spat, "Get lost!"

"His name's Heiwajima, he wont come out and beat you into this slug if you don't have the decency to get even his name right"

"Heiwajima?"

"Good job"

"Listen, y-you looking for trouble?" Apparently Kyohei's calm demeanor was unsettling to the Napoleonic leader, who clutched his metal pipe a little closer

Kyohei Kadota lifted his head and gazed at the kids, some obviously still in middle school, crowding around their boss to give some sort of illusion of strength; he almost smirked. Clapping is book shut he wandered over to the boss man, who was at least two heads shorter, he and his comrades continued to sink into the murky lawn – this did not seem to catch their attention. Kadota put his book under one arm and swung his bag over his shoulder, and then, without hesitation or trouble, ripped the pipe from the young man's trembling hands, whacking his knee along the way, and flung it across the field. The boys gaped, some of them dropped their boards, rocks, and whatever else they had picked up along the way and others just froze. The leader buckled to one side, he could not steady himself, and no one tried to help.

"Heiwajima's coming, I'm just his delivery boy" the smirk came and the rag tag gang fled, their boss hobbling quickly behind. The smirk immediately left Kyohei's face and was replaced with disgust, more at himself than at them. He looked to the left side of the gate where smoke was billowing from someone leaning, ironically, on a "No Smoking" sign. A tall blond kid, quite a bit taller than Kyohei, stomped his cigarette into the mud and said flatly, "Well that was easy."

"Would have been quicker if you'd stepped up yourself"

"Now you _know_ that's not true. Thanks for correcting them on my name, I wouldn't want the little pricks that come around trying to jump me getting that wrong."

Kyohei threw his bag over by the blond and started opening his book, "Well now that you're afternoon has freed up, stay awhile"

"I've gotta meet Kasuka, he's expecting me"

"Yeah, in an hour, just sit here and chill out for a minute or two – even _you_ are allowed to do that"

Kyohei's companion turned noiselessly on one heel and went through the gate, twirling a pen in his hand, a slim shadow quickly followed behind, "Yup, just a calm day alone – good luck with that" Kyohei sighed and combed his hair back with his hand, a nervous tick that he couldn't seem to beat, "at least he usually splits once Kasuka shows up." Finally having the peace he'd been hoping for, he sat on a rock, and started reading page 34, only to discover, that pages 35-40 had been ripped out with '_Looking for something, Dotachin?_' scrawled in frilly script across 41, for the first time in weeks, Kyohei Kadota lost his cool, this time, twice in a single afternoon.

"IZAYA!"

Students continued to file out of the Raira campus. A nerd with broken glasses and a cheesy grin waved excitedly at Kadota, ignoring his frustration. Kadota nodded in return, he wasn't a barbarian - just pissed off. Dark clouds began to reform, everyone had thought the storm was over, but a blinking eye hung overhead.


	2. Chapter 2

Shizuo Heiwajima headed out towards Ikebukeru Middle School, it was a short walk but there were plenty of places for plenty of places for _insects _to hide. The Raira uniform was too hot, everything seemed to make him overheat these days – he hadn't worn socks in a couple of weeks and was even keeping his hair shorter, anything to keep him cool. Just sitting in class set him on edge, and the last thing he wanted was to blow up. The only way to control himself was to just stop his outbursts all together, cold turkey. Teachers had stopped calling on him, and no one picked him for sports – they were all afraid, afraid of what he could do. If only the gangs and every other flea bag in the city were that scared, it was an almost daily occurrence for some group to show up on the school yard looking to jump him. Not just guys from Ikebukeru either, clowns from all over came packed in cars or took over whole buses to take the ride down to Raira just to be the ones that finally out did Shizuo Heiwajima.

There was a faint *click* coming from about twenty feet behind Shizuo, every few steps he'd hear it, and each time his fists would clench tighter. He started sweating more and more, not because he was nervous, his entire body seemed to be reaching a boiling point. Knowing who, or rather _what_, was following put him on edge – teetering on the brink of civilized human defenses – he tried to take a deep breath or two, but it came out more like a Rottweiler wheezing before an attack. A dickish little terrier followed behind, overcompensating for his diminutive size with loud barks, a lot of show, and a small switchblade. _Why couldn't Kasuka and I just have this day to ourselves?_ Shizuo sighed; his mind was tired, even if his body was ready to pounce.

A small boy with a mop of brown hair approached, he usually wore a blank expression but gave the quickest, faintest pleased smile at the site of Shizuo.

"You're late big brother," he spoke flatly, it ran in the family, "Yumasaki offered to walk me home."

"Don't start, I got held up by Kadota – now come on let's go."

"Want to stop for some food? I'm sure don't have anything at home"

"We'll order something. Let's just go straight home, you walk slow enough I don't want to make extra stops."

Kasuka worked hard to keep up with his big brother, but he didn't question his statements, it was better not to once he'd already taken off his jacket and tensed up. They kept a quick, silent pace for awhile when the younger Heiwajima finally spoke up, "I made three goals in soccer today, I should have made more, but I got tired. I need to start running more."

"Bullshit! That's great!" Shizuo actually smiled, he had ceased watching his mouth around Kasuka ages ago. The clicking had stopped and his brother was being too hard on himself, all was as it should be, "I can never concentrate enough to score goals, I'm a better goalie – so I'm jealous!"

"You're only a better goalie because your head is so big" Kasuka actually chuckled, he only did when he was with his brother, "You can't miss"

"Coming from the kid I could use to wax the gymnasium," he grabbed his brother's mop top in the crook of his elbow, "You ever going to cut this?" he grabbed Kasuka's arm and spun him around and out into the sidewalk, his little brother's dainty feet twirling on the pavement. Maybe this day wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

Click.

Shizuo froze, Kasuka still quietly chuckling, didn't notice.

Click.

Shizuo's arm went rigid – knee's locking, he yanked his little brother to his side, protecting him from what was approaching. The boys looked around, searching for the perpetrator, but to no avail. Kasuka knew the drill, he didn't ask questions and he wouldn't move until his brother told him to. The older Heiwajima began to sweat, _don't get Kasuka wrapped up in this_, his mind was racing, his pupils practically dilated as he searched for the perpetrator. He should have known that he would never have a Friday like anyone else, he couldn't live a single day like anyone else.

Kasuka wasn't scared, he never was - he just waited until Shizuo told him what to do, and it would happen. Hysteria never solved anything, worrying about a problem wouldn't make it go away - so he never succumbed to either. Finally, his big brother spoke up,

"Kasuka, go home - take the old way back"

"You said it wasn't safe," the color gangs had taken over the neighborhood the two of them used to walk through to get home, their former route before the terrier had shown up - Shizuo had gotten paranoid and they had discovered a new, slightly longer, way home.

"Keep your whistle out and _don't let anyone know your name_," he muttered the last bit - finally loosening his grip on Kasuka's arm, "**_Go._**"

Click.


	3. Chapter 3

_I wasn't going to get involved; he's fine on his own. Orihara won't try anything when Kasuka is around._

Kyohei had left the school yard almost ten minutes after Shizuo; he frequently took the same way home, they lived a few blocks away from each other. Although their routes only seemed to coincide when Kyohei saw Shizuo's sprightly shadow follow him out the Raira gates. It was just that _one time_ that they both _happened_ to be at the same coffee at the same time, and get the same order…and Kyohei paid for Shizuo because he had left his wallet in his locker. One time.

It was such a nice day – hopefully nothing (or nobody) was going to get tossed into the blue sky. Maybe they would all just go home and study, or knit, or **something**. The idea that a Friday afternoon could go by without a mishap seemed like a lofty goal but it wasn't out of the question. Shizuo could just have a nice day with his brother, he'd earned that much. _And I could finally get a moments peace. Maybe even Shizuo and I could hang out one of these days, without him looking over his shoulder the entire time. Just hanging out, like…bros. _

A crash brought Kadota from his inner monologue, it sounded like stone crumbling. Stone? He set out in a run around the corner, skidding slightly; a cloud of dust met him on the other side. He ran into the street to try and get a better look at the destruction that had already taken place, only to witness more. A short, inky haired kid was hanging from a climbing post on the telephone pole, grinning – he was always grinning. The boy was so thin and fragile looking he seemed to sway in the breeze and the forces of wind coming from his swinging nemesis below. "Come and get me!" he sang, clicking his heels. Shizuo had put his fist almost two feet into the ground, but began replying by picking up chunks of sidewalk and throwing them like pebbles at the delicate boy above.

"Izaya!" Shizuo was already shouting, never a good sign, the veins in his arms and neck looked as though they were trying to escape. His eyes so tightly squinted he was practically going on instinct, he could smell the flea before it had even bit. The parasite in question, Izaya Orihara, had proceeded to climb the telephone pole – his grin getting wider with each passing level.

"Shizuo stop!" all Kyohei could do was yell, he's tried once to pull his friend off of someone, and he'd never try again. Shizuo hadn't meant to hurt him but,

"Get back here! Get down here asshole!" he looked like he was ready to pull the pole out of the ground, taking the rest of them down with it. But then he leapt, higher than it seemed a teen could, he ended up about three quarters up the pole – continuing his inhuman hunt, he didn't climb using the rungs bolted into the wood, he simply dug his fingers and nails straight in, ripping out pieces as he went along, showering the ground below.

"Shizuo!"

Then Izaya did what Kyohei had been dreading, he started to taunt, one might think the kid was suicidal with the way he would stand up to the Heiwajima boy – a sucidal idiot, "You'd better listen to Dotachin there Shizu-chan. He only wants what's best for you, unlike me" he put his hand on his heart and gazed at Kadota, "It's touching really, like a finch protecting the rhino whose back it rides on." He was sitting on the very top of the pole, overlooking all of uptown Ikebukeru, "Kasuka's making good time," he sneered, blocking the blistering sun as he looked out at the surrounding area, "I see fleeing is a family skill"

"SHUT _UP_!" Both boys shouted at once – Izaya was a prick, but he didn't deserve to be torn to pieces, and Kyohei wasn't going to let his friend be responsible. Shizuo on the other hand, thought this was a marvelous idea. He'd practically reached the top and stretched to grab Izaya's foot, he narrowly missed, usually his opponents were so paralyzed with fear, he hadn't needed to be fast – but that didn't work with Izaya.

"Like my new boots Shizu-chan? I wore them just for you!" He kicked wildly, making direct contact with his attacker's forehead, it became apparent that his new duds had a steel toe. Shizuo winced, but was able to wrap his fingers through the laces, and pulled.

Kyohei watched in disbelief as Izaya actually allowed a look of utter surprise to cross his face, he continued in his line of firsts when Shizuo pulled him from the top of the pole and swung the little rat over his shoulder, dangling him upside down over the crushed sidewalk.

"Dotachin," He called, in a voice void of any discernable emotion – for the first time, the dickish terrier had no idea what to do. Shizuo on the other hand looked overwhelmed by his options. He gingerly swung his catch back and forth and bobbed him over the far away ground. A manic looked that had never crossed his surly face appeared – it was scarier than his angry face, he was excited.

"Shizuo, just bring him down. He's not worth the trouble, just bring him here and we'll sort it out solid ground" Kyohei realized he was holding his arms out in front of him, like if Izaya fell – he could catch him, embarrassed, he started to correct himself. Suddenly, the frail body above started to quiver – his blank expression never wavered, his eyes had glazed over – the arms went back up, what else could he do? "Shizuo, just come down, we can sort this out down here…just come"

Shizuo had never been so frenzied, of course he'd never actually caught Izaya before, he'd never known what it was like to have him completely at his mercy. Too often Orihara had made a fool out of him and made his life hell. He'd come between Shizuo and his friends, school work, girls, even his family, with the exception of Kasuka, why did he deserve to be dealt with sensibly? He'd never show Shizuo the same courtesy, there had never been any sense behind their hatred; it was like a lion and a gazelle, a smart mouth, knife wielding gazelle.

He suddenly realized he was holding his prey by nothing more than its brand new slick shoelaces – which were beginning to slip – in one quick motion he tossed Izaya slightly into the air, catching him by the cuff of his jeans. For the moment he was in the air, Izaya's right arm twitched, like he was going for his knife, but he never did. As soon as he was caught he went rigid again, the same unreadable expression on his thin face. Shizuo looked down at the pavement, he barely noticed the cracked cement, or the torn up wooden pole he was hanging from – he just saw Kadota's face, the usually calm expression had been replaced by mix of terror and confusion. He couldn't lose it, not with Kyohei there – this wasn't his problem and he shouldn't have to deal with the consequences. He silently began to climb down, the gazelle still tensely hanging, to the untrained eye, this scene would look almost comical – Izaya's shirt had ridden up and was hanging on his sunken chest, his arms were still stiff by his sides, his free leg bent and balanced on his own backside. Shizuo carried his trophy down, eyes fixed on Kyohei like a Labrador unsure of his retrieval – Kyohei's arm's were still outstretched, he'd completely forgotten they were there at this point, _he really was going to drop him wasn't he?_

Shizuo reached the bottom, and handed his prized ankle over to Kyohei – he looked like a baby handing his mother a freshly caught worm. Kyohei winced, "Just put him on the groun-_place_ him on the ground" He cupped Izaya's head and laid it gently on the bit of flat concrete still left. Izaya closed his eyes, but the expression was still incomprehensible. Shizuo stood there, blankly staring at his shoes – Kyohei dropped his hand on his friend's shoulder with a tired *thwap* snapping Shizuo out of his trance. They sighed in unison, no words coming to mind; Kyohei rubbed his friend's back and gazed at the torn apart telephone pole – the blank Izaya Orihara was starting to freak him out.

Heiwajima stared at his hands, they were bloody and splintered but no pain registered.

Kyohei finally broke the silence, "Look, it's all over now let's just…" he didn't know what they should "just do" but he didn't want to just keep standing there with the two of them like this.

"I want to go home" Shizuo still hadn't looked up but he spoke clearly and surprisingly calmly, "Kasuka should be getting there soon"

"Then go, I'll deal with him"

The body below them suddenly twitched, his eyes still shut, Izaya said proudly, "Baby brother won't get very far without these" and he lifted a set of keys from his pocket, a fluffy cat keychain dangled, its bell mockingly tinkled.

The other two couldn't move – this had crossed the line – siblings were never supposed to get involved, this wasn't their fight, it was barely Shizuo and Izaya's. The latter sat up, crossed his legs and waited patiently, twirling the house keys on his finger. Shizuo's mind went blank, while Kyohei's was racing – he couldn't focus long enough on one thing to form out a plan, he was helpless and useless. All of a sudden, it was as if lightning had struck Shizuo straight through the spine – he flew into the air and sprang towards his nemesis, a flash of silver flew between them,

"Shizuo, NO!" Kyohei snatched his friend's shirt just as he was coming in for the landing, he pulled the much taller boy on top of him and the two of them crashed to the ground. Izaya had pulled his knife – it was sheer luck that Kadota had spotted it in time – but the blade had managed to slice through the attackers shirt and give him a pretty deep gash in his forearm.

"Let me go!"

"He's not worth-!"

"Don't you tell me he's not worth this! What the fuck am I supposed to do? You brought Kasuka into this you little shit! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!" Kyohei had locked his friend's legs in with his own and he was barely holding him back with his arms pinned behind his back, Heiwajima was libel to gnaw his way out soon.

Izaya stood, proud of himself, he walked up to the tangled mess of his schoolmates and grinned, "You two have fun without me," he traced the line of Shizuo's leg with his blade, the stabbed into the side of his kneecap; the victim roared, but more in anger than pain – he'd dealt with worse wounds – but Kasuka was in danger, and it was all this prick's fault. "Bye!" Izaya waved, and leaped over a nearby fence, ran across the street and leaped over some railroad tracks, "I'll just dump these in a lake somewhere!"

"_**I will come for Mairu and Kururi.**_ You've gone _too far_ Izaya!"

An invisible nerve must have been tapped, for the briefest of moments Izaya paused and dropped the keys in a puddle right next to where he was standing; he then skipped away, disappearing behind a passing train.


End file.
